SOCHI, RUSSIA– Strat­ton Mountain School alumnus Alex Deibold (’04), Manchester, won bronze in men’s snowboardcross at the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 18.

The SBX was postponed from February 17 due to extreme fog. Deibold finished third in his 1/8-final heat to move onto quarterfinals, where he also finished third. (The top three riders from these heats advance.) As the only American to advance to the Big Final (top six riders), he was in good position to score, and score he did, earning bronze in this event.

Deibold is one of 12 SMS alumni competing in the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Although this is the first time Deibold attended the Olympics as a competitor, it’s not his first trip to the Olympics “I went to the last Olympics as a wax tech for the US Snowboard Team, which was really hard work, but I was grateful for the experience of getting to go and help,” Deibold said. “But now, making the team as an athlete is a dream come true. I’m so excited to experience all the things I got to watch my teammates get to do last time that I had to miss out on.”

On December 21, 2013, Deibold finished on the podium in third at the Lake Louise World Cup snowboardcross event. On January 11, he finished 10th at the Vallnord Arcalis, Andorra World Cup.

Deibold placed second at the Sochi World Cup and made the finals in four out of five World Cup starts in 2013.